The Pond Chronicles: A Moment Like This
by nat-nav
Summary: Part 3 in the Pond Chronicles. Everyone else knew, all apart from her. Watch how little Aria Pond learns of the mysterious River Song, the woman who'll save her life. But just who is she? Can be read alone. Amy/11 Jack/OC Rory/OC ON HIATUS!
1. Prologue

**IT'S BACK! And it has a prologue! This is the 3rd (& final part) to the trilogy that started with My Life Would Suck Without You, it doesn't make any sense at all unless you've read the others so check out my profile to see them. Anywho without further ado here it is...**

* * *

><p>She stood there with her dazzling smile that made his insides melt. Her blonde bouncy hair framing her face making her look even more irresistible. He wiped his sweaty palms on his trouser leg wondering how he could be brought down to a love struck teenager with just her presence within a room. It almost infuriated him at how much he loved this impossible woman; his impossible woman, his River Song.<p>

But he would then be quickly reminded of the day, the time and the event that was quickly approaching. Darillium and the singing towers, their final venture together before she headed towards the library. The Doctor had told him of his first meeting with his daughter and looking back on it, he was happy the Timelord had told him. Since then he had tried to make everyday as important and as exciting as the next, but even time travellers such as themselves couldn't escape the inevitable. Time always catches up with you.

Many tears were shed on that trip, his own and her parents, all with the foreknowledge of what was to come. She asked several times what was upsetting them and each time they had had to respond with the infuriating word that was `spoilers`.

Now though, he stood on the dock watching the ship fly out into space, his wife onboard as the vessel took her to her impending death on the Library. He had known better than to stop her from going, he had learned from experience that stopping a fixed event has disastrous consequences. He took a deep breath and steadied his breathing.

He was holding hands with someone, a much smaller someone who also had tears in his eyes. The little boy looked up at him and, in a voice that could only be described as pure innocence, asked: "Daddy, when's Mummy coming back?" And for once the great Captain Jack Harkness couldn't think of a response.

* * *

><p><strong>I know it's sad, but the River story in Moffat's story doesn't even have a happy ending! :( Anyhoo, the first person to review I will like LOVE and i dunno mention them in a chapter or something! So review, pwetty pwease! :) x<strong>


	2. University Days & First Impressions

**Here is the first chapter for you and a prewarning its extremely fluffy! :) 3**

* * *

><p>Aria Pond had been at University for little more than 6 months now and was off on her first expedition for her archaeology course. She sat in the small vessel her group had been assigned, it was remotely flown and set for a single destination: the ruins of the temple of Venus from the new Roman Empire. Her group's task was to set up a base camp at the ruins and start to excavate the outer walls. It was a fairly simple task and each of them would be graded on their efforts and quality of work, Aria was by far the youngest in her group and was hoping that may gain her a few extra points on her results.<p>

Her group consisted of some `characters` to say the least. There was a fairly normal student name Iain who was 23 and had won scholarship at the university after receiving the best A-level results in the UK. Aria had to admit she would have been impressed, if she knew what an A-level was. He was human and they pair had become quite close since her arrival at the university. Then there was Ghimbos (Gim-bus) who was Malmooth and had to say Ghim- and then –Bos at the beginning and end of everything he said. Aria found it quite annoying at first, but realised who was she to be annoyed at what another person considered to be polite. So she sucked it up and found out Ghimbos to be quite a lovely character.

Then there was Andromeda, a spoilt brat whom annoyed everyone. She refused to do anything and if told off and questioned would get `Daddy` involved. Aria refused to give her the time of day and on their first meeting out rightly said that she could never be friends with someone who saw themselves as the universe. Then finally there was Tabatha. She was a cat kind and much older than the rest of us. She had come from New Earth to study at the University after finding she had an interest in history. She kept Andromeda in order as much as she could and was a mothering figure to the group. She was also the groups assigned leader, so what she says goes.

Aria was writing in the blue diary her father had given her on her 16 birthday. She had currently written very little in it but slowly and surely pages were started to be filled up with her writing and pictures.

The vessel landed without any problems and they had landed in the right place. This was a new experience for Aria, what with her fathers usual driving; it was odd for her to arrive at a place they'd been planning to go. The feeling quickly wore off though as they set up base camp. The manual labour kept her mind in focus and stopped it from running away, but the unexpected eye candy didn't.

The man had turned up out of the blue, claiming he had been hired by the university to help with the excavation. Aria didn't believe a word of it, but Tabatha did and set him to work almost immediately, putting up one of the storage tents. The man had a tight white t-shirt on with black cargo pants and his skin had a thin sheen of sweat on as he worked in the hot summer sun causing his shirt to stick to him in all the right places. He only looked about 20/21and was being eyed up by every other male on the camp as competition.

Aria thought she was a hard woman to please, but this guy seemed to tick all the boxes. So putting her hair up in a ponytail and placing her jacket on a nearby table, she walked over to the stranger.

"Hello, would you like some help?" She offered. The man looked up from his work and Aria's hearts seemed to jump as she saw his bright blue eyes. What Aria failed to notice was that his breathing had hitched too.  
>"Err... yes please." He stuttered. She smiled at him, causing butterflies to erupt in his stomach, and then she reached over to get the mallet. As a team they finished knocking in the remaining pegs, both infatuated with one another.<p>

Knocking in the last peg, Aria dropped the mallet with a resounding thud. She wiped her palms on her khaki shorts and offered it out to the man. "I'm Aria. Aria Pond." She says sweetly. He repeats her action of wiping his palm on his trousers and shakes her outstretched hand.  
>"Jack, Jack Harkness." He replied and thus begun their relationship.<p>

Over the next 3 weeks of the expedition Aria and Jack met up many times, for lunch and what not. Jack eventually revealed that he was in fact not hired by the university but a time agent and was looking for a hidden artefact hidden amongst the ruins. Much to his surprised Aria offered to help him; on the condition he helped her to pass her assessment. He agreed to her terms and they made a wonderful partnership.

By the end of the third week, the end of the expedition and the due date for Jack's findings, Aria and Jack had fallen head over heels for each other. Aria had done what she believed to be enough to pass her assessment and they had located the artefact Jack was looking for.

Whilst the others were packing away the stuff Jack pulled Aria into a quiet corner knowing this would be his only chance to say a proper goodbye.

"Aria I just wanted to say..." He begun but Aria cut him off.  
>"Oh shut up." She said and pulled him in for a kiss. This was their first and the smoothness and taste of Aria's lips against his own was better than he could have hoped for. He closed his eyes as he melted into the kiss and his arms encircled her waist. They slowly broke apart as the need for oxygen became desperate. "I've never said this to anyone before, but Jack Harkness I think I love you." Aria said her arms draped around Jack's shoulders.<br>"Well Aria Pond, I think I love you too." He replied a soft smile on his face as he brushed a strand of hair out of Aria's face.

There quiet moment was cut short though as Iain burst round the corner, announcing that they had finished packing and that it was time to leave. The couple followed Iain back to the vessel, their hands entwined. "I'm going to miss you Jack." Aria said softly standing outside the vessel, she was the last to get in.  
>"I'm going to miss you too." Jack replied.<p>

Then after a final fleeting kiss Aria entered the vessel with hopes of seeing that impossible man again and Jack was left on his lonesome, the only thing left of his time with Aria being his memories and a single photo. He sighed a deep and heartbreaking sigh. He then scooped up the artefact Aria and himself had so cleverly found and disappeared on the spot, returning to the agency to report his findings.

On the vessel now a thousand miles away, Aria sat with her blue book in lap, finishing her last entry on her expedition. The page contained an identical photo to the one Jack had of herself and him sat together laughing at Andromeda as she fell into one of the holes. She had stuck it into her diary but hadn't drawn or written anything around it, she had simply put `Jack & I` at the bottom of the page. She concluded that if she put anything else it would make her time with him cliché, a teenage crush and nothing more, and their relationship was definitely not that. She hoped she would see him again; her father had said that `the universe was big and vast and sometimes there were miracles`, well to anyone else it may seem a bit overdramatic, but she was hoping for a miracle right about now.

A thousand years in the past a much older Jack Harkness is sitting in his office at the newly rebuilt Torchwood institute in Cardiff. Paper work was covering every foot of his desk except in the space where a small framed photo stood. It was one of the only things that survived the explosion of the previous Torchwood and he would consider it one of his most precious items. This small photo contained a much younger himself and a young lady who he never stopped loving.

* * *

><p><strong>Sooo... no Doctor or Amy in that chapter but it gets the ball rolling for the story! :) Reviews are very much appreciated! :) x<strong>


	3. Some Christmas

**Hope everyone had a good Christmas or Winter celebration of some sorts! ;) Thank you to all the alerts and reviews on this so far, Emperor Niro I will be putting your name in some where as in properly but I haven't worked it out yet so i'll tell you when I do! :) Anyways here's the new chapter for you, hope you like! :) x**

* * *

><p>Christmas came at the university meaning a 4 week holiday for its students. Most students would return home to their families, some would stay on campus if their homes were too far away but only one student had their home come to them.<p>

The Tardis silently, Amy was driving, materialized into the corner of Aria's dormitory and the doors swung open to reveal the Doctor with a Santa hat on. "Dad!" Aria said happily running up to him and giving him a hug, of which he graciously returned.  
>"Merry Christmas," he said happily, releasing her from the hug. "Have a good term?" He asked sceptically,<br>"Of course Dad, I wouldn't still be here if I didn't." Aria replied happily. The Doctor was obviously overjoyed that his daughter was enjoying university, although deep down he wished she hadn't so that she would come and stay home.  
>"That's brilliant, as long as you're having a good time." The Doctor said reassuringly giving his daughter a squeeze. Amy then walked out behind the pair.<p>

"Mum!" Aria said happily and repeated the ritual of hugging and her mother asking whether she was alright, of which she of course responded that "everything was fine". Amy was sceptical but took her daughters word for it. "So what have you been up to?" Aria asked her hands on her hips; she had no doubt in her mind that her parents had most likely been on the brink of universal destruction at least once since her departure.  
>"Well... this and that." The Doctor said avoiding all detail; he was nodding his head whilst saying this causing the bell on the end of his hat to rattle.<br>"Here and there." Amy finished, continuing her husband evasiveness, she grabbed the offending hat and threw it in the Tardis behind them. The Doctor pouted at her.  
>"Wow, I love how you went into so much detail there." Aria said sarcastically. It made for one of the rare moments that Amy saw the `River` within her daughter.<br>"We've have practice." The Doctor admitted.  
>"Lots of it." Amy agreed.<br>"Anyway it's Christmas, you don't want to spend it here do you? Vamos, imos, andiamo, eamus, allons-y, geronimo!" The Doctor said ushering Aria and Amy into the Tardis.

"Where are we going?" Aria asked excited at not only spending her first Christmas in a long time with her family, but maybe spending it on a foreign planet.  
>"Your sisters," the Doctor began as he rushed up to the console. "We promised to visit and well... there's no better time than Christmas!" The Doctor said happily; he was now running around the console puller levers and pressing buttons, living up to his title of a mad man with a box.<p>

The Tardis landed a few metres away from the front door the Doctor had left the couple at a few moths earlier. But this time, rather than having a bare blue door, the door was adorned with a large Christmas wreath, this proved to the Tardis occupants that they had got the right date for once. Eager to see her sister, Aria was the first out of the Tardis and quickly bounded up to the door. She was quickly followed by Amy and the Doctor who were slightly slower on their feet due to the presents weighing down their bigger on the inside pockets. Aria had gifts to give too, but similar to her parents, she had hidden them well.

Now having her parents standing behind her Aria proceeded to ring the doorbell. With a jangling of keys and the sliding of several locks the door finally opened. Before the door had even opened fully the trio outside sang out a chorused "Merry Christmas", but they didn't make it to the last syllable. The sight that was before them made all stop in their tracks...

...In front of the trio stood a very happy Alice, who was also a very pregnant Alice.

"Merry Christmas!" Alice said happily not noticing her parents' and sister's shocked expression. "Rory!" She called behind her. "It's Mum and Dad!" She hollered down the hall. She then turned back to her still shocked family. "Well come in then, unless you want to spend the night on the door step." Alice joked. Amy was the first to get coherent words to form. "Yes, inside!" Amy urged the other two, giving Aria a gentle push and elbowing the Doctor.

They all entered the house and Alice closed the door behind them. "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost." Alice asked concerned. Aria was next to sort out her words.  
>"Yeah we're fine. Haven't seen you in a while that's all." Aria said, hoping Alice would catch on. She didn't.<br>"Oh, well Rory's in the kitchen finishing dinner. I'm not allowed in their, apparently I can't cook." Alice said, getting louder with the words `can't cook` to make sure Rory heard.  
>"Do I need to remind you of the toaster?" Rory said, his voice also getting louder as he left the kitchen and walked down the corridor to end up standing next to Alice. He also had a slight change since the last they saw him. A 'tache and beard to be precise.<br>"I was improving it!" Alice whined, resting one hand on her prominent bump and the other in Rory's.  
>"So she told the fireman!" Rory joked; Alice playfully whacked him on the arm.<p>

"Anyway come and sit down, dinner's not going to be ready for a while." Alice said gesturing to the living room; they were still currently stood in the hall. The trio murmured in agreement and followed the couple into the next room. Then, still slightly dazed, sat down on the couch.  
>"Are you alright? You're all very quiet." Rory asked worriedly.<br>"Erm... how long ago was it you last saw us?" Aria asked her voice very uneven and unsteady.  
>"2 months or so, why?" Alice replied, leaning back and putting her head on Rory's shoulder.<br>"Sweetie, how should I put this?..." Amy began.  
>"How long have you been living here?" Aria burst out.<br>"5 years give or take." Alice replied. It was then it clicked for Rory.  
>"How long have we been living here for you?" He asked cautiously.<br>"5 months." The Doctor whispered the first words he had said since he came in the house.  
>"Oh..." Alice said the realisation of what her father just said sinking in.<p>

"So you didn't know I was..." Alice began gesturing to her bump.  
>"No..." Aria said.<br>"Oh..." Rory said. The room then fell into an extremely awkward silence. Then the door bell rang.

"I'll get it!" Aria said and was on her feet and at the front door before anyone else had the chance to react. She took a deep breath trying to get over the bombshell that had just been befallen upon her. The doorbell rung again and she rolled her eyes. "Alright I'm coming!" She moaned as she open the door.  
>"Merry Christmas!" The guests at the door said, like those before them they didn't make the last syllable.<br>"There are 2 of you!" Aria said slightly shocked at the pair in front of her, which happened to be a slightly older version of her parents.

They didn't seem to hear her comment and went into a full blown argument on the door step. "I told you I should have flown!" The older Amy said whacking the older Doctor on the arm.  
>"No I swear we landed in the correct time. 2026, Alice should be..." The Older Doctor trailed off aware of the `young` ears listening.<br>"No you're right, we're wrong." Aria began; her mind was now on automatic. This was a universal imploding paradox and she had to sort it before it got any worse. "Come in, quickly, and go and wait in the kitchen. I'll get Alice and Rory to come and get you." Aria said, pulling her slightly older parents inside, down the corridor and into the kitchen. She then re-entered the lounge.

"Right, sorry Alice and Rory but we've got to go." Aria said, pulling her parents, the correctly aged ones, up and pushing them towards the door.  
>"What, why?" Rory asked, following the teenager into the hall.<br>"This is our future, all of this is one massive spoiler and we shouldn't be here. Don't worry we'll be spending Christmas with you, just younger you!" Aria said reassuringly, she had now managed to push her parents half way down the path and half way to the Tardis and their ability to walk without her pushing was slowly returning to them.  
>"Oh okay, bye then!" Alice said finally getting to the door way. It took her a bit longer to get there being pregnant and all, but she had managed to hear what Aria was saying from the hall.<br>"Bye!" Aria called as she gently pushed her parents into the Tardis.  
>"Wait!" Rory called. "Who was at the door?" Rory asked just before Aria closed the door.<br>"They're in the kitchen!" Aria responded and then shut the door of the Tardis. She then bolted for the console and sent the Tardis into the vortex.

Relived and tired, Aria turned around and lent back on the console. It was then the Doctor started to talk. "She was, she was..." He started to do a pregnancy motion with his hands over his abdomen.  
>"We know." Amy replied, slightly breathless and still a bit shocked.<br>"But... my little girl...and...Rory... RORY!" The Doctor rambled and he motioned a beard and moustache to explain Rory.  
>"We know!" Amy repeated a little louder.<br>"Right...yes, sorry." The Doctor replied as he ran his fingers through his hair. He then collapsed onto the stairs, his 900 or so years of living shown on his face. He bowed his head and placed it in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees which were propped up at a 90 degree angle. He sighed deeply. "Some Christmas eh?" He said, his voice sounding tired and weary. Amy and Aria nodded in agreement.  
>"Some Christmas." They both muttered.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry I know it's a little confusing, I think I got it sorted anyway! Reviews are much appreciated! :)<strong>


	4. Pit Stop

**Sorry for the long wait, back to school and everything! :( Got my English exams next week not fun! :( Anyhoo, here's another chapter for you! It's a bit drabblely and fluffy and to be honest I don't know how I managed to waffle so much, but meh it's pretty good! :) Hope you like! :) x**

* * *

><p>Several hours later, Aria, Amy and the Doctor returned to the Tardis after spending Christmas with the correctly aged Rory and Alice. They had managed to brush the previous incident off and were planning to never mention it again. They were all slightly tipsy at this moment in time, surprisingly Rory's and Alice's house had been well stocked on alcohol. When questioned about it the pair would simply shrug their shoulders and say it was Christmas. The presents had gone down well with all parties being happy with what they received and elated when they saw the expression their counterparts made when opening the presents. Except from the earlier mishap, Christmas with the Ponds was more or less the same as every other family.<p>

The next morning Aria awoke with a head ache. "Hangover..." She groaned as she rolled out of bed, her eyes still half closed. Clumsily she made her way to the bathroom and groaned once again when she looked in the mirror. He slightly ajar eyes were red and bloodshot, she had slightly darkened bags underneath them and her hair looked like she had just been dragged through the vortex and back. She wasn't pleased to say the least and the Tardis felt very little sympathy it seemed.

Somehow, and it will forever evade her how, Aria had managed to get dressed and make herself presentable and was now heading the console room. Well she was trying too. The Tardis, it seemed, didn't improve of her drinking the previous evening with her family, especially because Aria was under age. The Tardis was use to her thief having a drink or 2 now and again; with friends like a certain Captain it wasn't surprising. But the Tardis existed over all of space and time and she could see Aria's timeline and all the events that were before her...no, she defiantly wasn't happy that Aria, one of her children, a child of the Tardis, had been drinking underage.

After what seemed several hours of search and a lot of cussing Aria finally arrived in the console room and walked into what probably could have been one of her worst nightmares... her parents making out. "EW!" Aria shouted and she entered the console room, bounding down the stairs. The Doctor and Amy both smirked into their kiss and held their lips together a little longer before finally pulling apart.  
>"Good Morning to you too." The Doctor said one arm still around Amy's waist. Aria snorted and plonked herself down on the small leather seat and the foot of the stairs.<br>"Can we go somewhere today pleeeasseee..." Aria asked, in a sickenly sweet voice. Amy rolled her eyes at her daughter; the Doctor's genes were very dominant in Aria sometimes.  
>"We could," the Doctor begun, "but the Tardis need refuelling so we're going to have to make a visit to a friend of mine." The Doctor finished, now whirling around the console, pressing button and pulling levers.<br>"And who's that?" Aria asked, any remnants of a hangover completely dissipating. The Doctor stopped in front of her and flicked her on the nose.  
>"Now where's the fun in telling you?" He remarked and cheeky grin on his face. Aria pouted a signature pout that came from no other than Amelia Pond. "Like mother like daughter." The Doctor murmured, kissing Aria on the forehead before spinning back to the controls.<p>

"Right, Cardiff 2013. The rift is still wide open and the Tardis can harness its energy. We have 24 hours before she'll be ready to go, so... who wants to explore?" The Doctor said with a final flourish, pulling Amy towards the door. He then pulled open the doors to reveal... a miserable, grey, soaked Cardiff. "It's raining." Amy said.  
>"No it's chucking it down." Aria commented, looking over her mother's shoulder.<br>"Come on, it's only a bit of rain it never hurt anyone." The Doctor said, gently tugging Amy outside. He didn't make it.  
>"I'm not going out their dressed like this." Amy said indicating at her short denim skirt and chequered shirt. "And neither is she. I'm not having her getting ill." Amy stated, nodding her head to her daughter. The Doctor knew better than to disagree with Amy when it came down to one of the girl's welfare.<br>"Right, fine, of you go." He said pointing in the direction of the wardrobe. "5 minutes though, 10 max." He yelled after them as they both disappeared into the corridor. Who was he kidding; they were going to be a while.

The Doctor didn't mind the rain; hence he stepped out on the Cardiff bay with not so much as a shiver. The Raul Dahl Plass had been reconstructed and rebuilt over the last 2 years, with a newly built Torchwood now located underneath it. The Doctor knew of the events that had befallen Torchwood and all of the Earth in the last few years, but they were fixed points and regrettably there was nothing he could do.

The Doctor turned to face one of the many CCTV camera's in the area and gave a quick wave, hopefully the good captain would have seen the Tardis landing and be on his way up now. 2 seconds after the Doctor waved at the camera, the newly installed invisible lift reached the pavement with Captain Jack Harkness standing in the middle. "Jack!" The Doctor exclaimed, the perception filter on the lift having no affect on him what so ever.  
>"Doctor!" Jack said happily, pulling the smaller man into a hug. "You look like a kid." He joked flicking the Doctors hair.<br>"You look like you've just come out of World War 2." The Doctor retorted, a smile on his face.  
>"Fair play." Jack continued. "On your own because it unlike you to stop for a social call?" Jack asked.<br>"No, the girls are in the Tardis. She recently got exploded, the poor girl, so she needs a bit of refuelling." The Doctor explained.  
>"Girls?" Jack exclaimed. "You've got 2 of them?" Jack said shocked, yet a mischievous glint in his eye as many a fantasies drifted through his very dirty mind.<br>"Yes but it not what you think!" The Doctor replied finger waggling at the Captain. Neither of them seemed to have noticed that the rain had stopped.  
>"What is it then Doctor?" Jack asked, his eyebrow wiggling.<br>"Complicated." The Doctor huffed. He then stopped when he saw Amy walk out the Tardis, donning a Tardis blue raincoat. She walked over to them and Jack's jaw dropped.

"Captain Jack Harkness and who are you?" Jack asked, pheromones blasting out every pore of his being.  
>"Amy Pond and those pheromones aren't going to work on my Mr." Amy replied, standing next to the Doctor.<br>"Ouch." Jack replied, mocking hurt. The Doctor quickly interrupted this flirting, scared at what may become of it.  
>"Jack I'd like you to meet Amelia Pond, my Wife." He said, wiping the smirk of Jack's face. Jack was silent for a minute.<br>"When did this happen?" Jack asked, shocked. Amy giggled.  
>"You'll find out, you were there." She replied.<p>

Jack rolled his eyes, damn time travellers. It was then he heard a voice that he thought he'd never hear again.  
>"Dad, why didn't you say it had stopped raining?" Aria yelled walking out of the Tardis. She stopped in her tracks when she spotted Jack.<br>"Aria I'd like to introduce you to..." But the Doctor didn't get to finish his sentence.  
>"Jack!" Aria yelled and ran at him, crashing him into a hug. Jack's response was instant and he squeezed the teenager he had fallen in love with so long ago.<br>"You're okay, you're..." Words escaped Jack as he held Aria close.  
>"I thought I was never going to see you again." Aria admitted, tears clouding her eyes. Jack silenced her with a kiss with the same passion and meaning that it had been all those years ago for him when they departed. They had both forgotten that Amy and the Doctor were standing their.<br>"I guess you've met then." The Doctor said, shocked at his daughter's reaction.

* * *

><p><strong>So they're back together! :) Reviews would honestly make my day and thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! :) x<strong>


	5. Torchwood 32

**So you lucky things, an update... on a school night... in the middle of my exams when I should really be doing homework or revision! It's a rarity from me i'll tell you that! ;) Anyways, this is more fluff i'm afraid! Honestly at the moment I'm trying to stall a bit so I can work up a big penultimate story line before I do the REALLY big one i've planned. But I think I have it now, so the next chapter should be a bit more actiony! :) Anyways hope you like! :) x**

* * *

><p>Jack and Aria remained lip locked, ignoring the Doctor's comment. "And breathe..." The Doctor said; he was first annoyed at the Captain for leading his youngest daughter astray, now he feared that they may end up unconscious from an oxygen deficit. "Do we really kiss for that long?" He asked Amy. She replied with a roll of her eyes and a giggle.<p>

The snogging couple finally broke apart.

Jack looked down at Aria; he bright green eyes were looking at him straight back and where glistening around the rims where tears of joy threaten to spill. She didn't look any older, since their departure. This led him to wonder how long it had been for her. "How long?" He croaked, his mouth dry in shock and emotion.  
>"Not that." Aria replied, leaning her forehead against his. "You?" She asked.<br>"A bit longer." He admitted. A small frown formed on Aria's face. Jack was not having that, centuries he hadn't seen her and he was not having her upset now. He poked her gently in the chest, causing her to giggle. She poked him back, it didn't have the same effect, but Jack laughed anyway.

The Doctor cleared his throat.

Jack grinned as he saw Aria go a bright crimson. He rolled his eyes, stole a quick chaste kiss and them grabbed her hand. "Come on then, I'll show you around downstairs and no doubt you'll want an explanation." Jack said, dragging Aria and her parents over to the lift.

When they were all assembled on, Jack pressed a few buttons on his manipulator and the stone began to descend. "Welcome to Torchwood 3.2" He chorused and they were lowered into the new, cavernous hub.

"And we're back by the rift manipulator." Jack said as they quartet entered the area. Jack had given them a guided tour of the newly finished hub. The other members of his team had had the day off so it was just them and a few weevils in the hub at the moment. During the tour there had been so chat, more general natter and passing comments than a full blown conversation as none of the tour participants were fully prepared to tackle the rather large elephant in the room.

"So..." The Doctor began; he was leant up against one of the desks, a cup of tea in his hand. Amy rolled her eyes at her husband's incompetence and began the talk that they had all been dreading.  
>"Let's start at the beginning," Amy clarified. "Where did you meet?" She asked.<br>"It was on Earth; don't worry not an outer space club or anything." Aria insisted. She knew full well her mother and father, particularly her father; had rather over active imaginations and she dreaded to think what conclusions they had come up with. The Doctor nodded softly; his composure remained decidedly calm, but inside his worry was just beginning.

"I was on a dig at temple of Venus, it was 3479 ish and we were it was one of our assessments to start to excavate some of the foundations." Aria explained. "It was going well; then Jack showed up claiming he worked for the university and our group leader believed him and put him to work. He obviously didn't, but he helped out anyway." Aria continued, her fingers now twiddling in her hair as she remembered the first time she saw Jack. God he was hot. "Anyway," she continued, slightly distracted.

Amy grinned, having a good idea what she must have been thinking about. Not only was it mother intuition but another female's gut instinct too.

"I went over and helped him pitch up the last tent and well we met there." Aria said, hoping for that to be reason enough. It wasn't.  
>"Yes, go on." Amy urged. Aria groaned a little; slightly annoyed Jack wasn't putting any input into this.<br>"Well... we met up for lunch that day and it kind of went on from there. We'd meet up for lunch or dinner and I dunno..." Aria said, now sitting on Jack's lap he head resting on his shoulder blade.

"Okay, that makes sense. It was all mushy human-y hormonal emotion-y stuff, but what I don't get, is what you were doing their Captain?" The Doctor said; his tone slightly grave and Jack knew he better get him bum in gear if the Doctor was calling him Captain. He wasn't sure about 11, but 10 certainly only called him that when he was in trouble. This was quite a lot. "It was quite a while ago, but I was working for the agency at the time and they wanted me to recover the diadem of Cleopatra X, which was famously hidden somewhere in the ruins in the temple of Venus." The Doctor nodded in agreement, it was a well known myth, especially in Jack's time period. "Honestly i wasn't expecting much, a couple of empty tombs, maybe a few traps or if push comes to shove a whole lot of digging. I never suspected that there were students at the site." Jack continued, now wrapping his arms around Aria. "But anyway, as I said looking for diadem thing..."

Amy didn't really catch the rest of what Jack was saying, she kind of zoned out. She just admired her daughter sitting on Jack's lap. She was hanging onto his every word. It was sweet. Amy wasn't sure how the Doctor was going to react when they were out of Aria's and Jack's earshot. Amy knew for a fact that the Doctor loved both his daughter's equally and he had been distraught when Aria announced she was going to university. Amy had found him, the night Aria left, on the swing underneath the main console, his cheeks glazed from tears and one of Aria's baby blankets clenched in his hand. It was beautiful and heartbreaking to see all at the same time. This time though, Aria wasn't just leaving, like she would do in a week or so time to go back to university (the Doctor had insisted that she stayed longer, they were in a time machine after all, but she was adamant to have just 2 week off like the rest of her class mates), she had fallen in love and that was a different story all together.

Before Amy could ponder any further, the rift alarm blared out, alerting Jack that something was up. Sliding Aria off of his lap, Jack was up in an instant and ran over to one of the many computers. "Don't worry just a weevil, not much of a problem." Jack said, typing in some small commands on the computer before dashing off to his office to grab his coat. He had put it in there during their tour.

Amy turned to the Doctor, a knot in her brow. "What's a weevil?" She asked. She had grown up on Earth, not far from here in fact and she had never heard of such a creature. The Doctor shrugged in response; he looked as confused as Amy. Jack bounded up to them, placing his Webley back in its holster. "I won't be long, 10-20 minutes max. Don't touch the rift manipulator, don't touch the computer system, no `improving` anything and if you value your life don't mess up Gwen's desk." Jack said, he annunciate every syllable just drive home that he didn't want anyone touching anything. One nosy Timelord was hard to handle most of time and now he was leaving, what he suspected to be, 3 Timelords in the hub unattended... he didn't particularly want to think about it. Before any of the Timelords could respond though, he had given Aria a very forceful and passionate kiss, then out the door heading towards the also newly bought SUV.

The Timelords all stood there a little shocked at Jack's departure. "I have a feeling he didn't want us touching anything." Amy joked. Aria laughed and the Doctor cracked a smile.  
>"No, what would give you that idea?" Aria jested.<br>"I don't know the demeaning list of not-to-dos and rules were pretty obvious." The Doctor deadpanned. That got all 3 of them in hysterics.

Whilst her parents continued making, what she classed as, terrible jokes, Aria snuck out of the main hub area and into Jack's office. She knew she shouldn't be in here, not only was it an invasion of his privacy, but no doubt against one of the many rules he had listed before he left. She was never one for rules, he father's curiosity was the dominant allele in her. She slowly walked forward around the edge of the, frankly, small room. There wasn't much. There was several filing cabinets, a few bottles of hypervodka, gin, whiskey and several other alcoholic drinks dotted around the room, a wardrobe that held another 2 replica's of Jack's coat and at the centre sat an old wooden desk, covered in quite a bit of paper work.

Aria sat down at his desk and glanced around the room from the perspective Jack saw probably every day. Then something caught her eye. In the corner of the desk was a very familiar photo, the picture of her and Jack laughing together. It looked old, very old. Easily 200 years old. Why did it look so old? How long had it been for Jack? Yes he looked older, Aria wouldn't doubt that, but it wasn't by much. From his face it could have been more than 3 years at a push 5, but the photo beg to differ. It was old...

But did that mean in all the years they had been apart from Jack's perspective... he had loved her all this time?

* * *

><p><strong>So there was a cute moment for the Doctor there. He wasn't being a wimp or anything I just thought that even though he's apparently `used` to people leaving I think his daughters would be harder. So you had that snippet from Amy there! :) Anyhoo, reviews make the world go round, my world anyway! So please review and hope you liked! :) x<strong>


	6. Intruders

**Another chapter! :) Thank you for all the reviews, it means a lot to me! :) I'm not overly happy with this chapter, I rewrote it a few times and this one came out best... hopefully you'll like it! :/ **

* * *

><p>Both Amy and the Doctor knew Aria had disappeared, they had both seen her leave the room. They had thought it better just to leave her be. "So, Aria and Jack huh?" Amy said, draping her arms around her husband's neck.<br>"Hmm... Jack maybe a flirt, but honestly I can't think of anyone better to be with Aria." The Doctor admitted, putting his arms around Amy's waist.  
>"True, true. Especially when she gets older." Amy said, now resting her head on his shoulder. The Doctor nodded in agreement.<br>"Hmm... River Song and Jack Harkness, I don't think the universe will be able to take it." The Doctor joked, earning a whack on the chest from Amy. She laughed though. And they stood their in silence, completely contempt with one another's company. The clicking of several guns having their safety removed broke their bliss.

Rex, Martha, Mickey and Gwen all met up at the entrance to the Tourist board, the hub computers had detected several non-human life forms in the hub and they were all worried that the weevils had some how escaped. "Some day off eh?" Mickey joked as they entered the small office that was the tourist board. The others nodded glumly in agreement.  
>"Surely Jack would have called us in if weevils had escaped their cells?" Gwen asked, she was reluctant to go in to say the least, it was her day off and one of the few days she got to spend with Anwen.<br>"I don't know what `day off` means to you English..."  
>"Welsh!" Gwen interrupted him, but he ignored her.<br>"...but in America it usually means not coming into work." Rex finished. The group rolled their eyes and made their way through the now opened wall into the main hub. Rex was all over the pessimism of the group.

After exiting the lift, they were now a few metres from the hub entrance. "Ready?" Martha asked her gun ready and primed. They all nodded, each of them weapon in hand and weevil spray in the other. Just before Martha opened the door though, she could hear voices from the `non-humans` in the hub. "River Song and Jack Harkness, I don't think the universe will be able to take it..." The voice said on the other side. That proved they certainly weren't weevils, which could prove for an interesting fight. And who in the hell was River Song and what did she have to do with Jack?

Martha pushed the questions to the back of her mind and entered the hub, gun pointing directly at the intruders. In unison the team took the safety off their guns.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Martha said. The intruders turned around to face the group, neither of them seeming fazed that they had several guns pointed at their heads. It was a man and a woman. The man had short spiky brown hair and was dressed like a geography teacher in Martha's opinion, the tweed jacket; braces and blue bowtie were eccentric to say the least. In contrast the woman was normally dressed, a mini skirt which left very little to the imagination and a plain white blouse, not to mention the bright ginger hair hung almost perfectly off her head. Martha couldn't deny it; she was bloody gorgeous... and yet the hub computers brought them up to be non-human.  
>"Martha Jones, or is it Smith now? Anyway, 'ello!" The Male cried happily. Martha recognised the tone of voice, but wasn't convinced it was who she thought it was and kept her gun pointed at the pair. The `geography teacher` didn't seem at all fazed by the guns and continued on talking, now addressing Mickey.<p>

"Mick, Mick, Mick, Mickey! Hello, long time no see eh?" The Male continued continued. Mickey relaxed considerable, with an introduction like that he knew who was standing in front of him.  
>"Can say the same." Mickey replied, lowering his gun, much to the shock of the others. "You've regenerated again." Mickey noted.<br>"Oh yes new face, no wonder you all look terrified." The Male said. Martha put 2 and 2 together and lowered her gun.  
>"Doctor?" She asked cautiously, lowering her gun.<br>"The one and only!" The Doctor exclaimed, causing the woman to roll her eyes. Martha laughed and gave him a hug. Gwen and Rex lowered their gun, both confused.  
>"You look like a teenager." Martha exclaimed, stepping back out of the hug. The Doctor pouted.<p>

Before the Doctor could reply a young girl, who was definitely a teenager, came walking back into the room, her attention on the picture in her hand. "Who are you..." the girl began but stopped abruptly when she saw the group in front of her. "Did i miss something?" The girl deadpanned. She then walked over to stand next to the other woman.

"Ah, yes. Aria, Amy, meet the Torchwood team." The Doctor said, flourishing his arms towards the group. Both the women gave a little wave. "This is Martha and Mickey Smith, Gwen Cooper and..." The Doctor trailed off as his pointed to Rex.  
>"Rex Matthews." Rex replied. "And what in the hell is going on here?" He continued. The Doctor raised his eyebrows.<br>"American, Torchwood's going up in the world." The Doctor said, ignoring Rex's question. Martha answered Rex's question.  
>"What's going on is that there are no intruders, you can go back to what ever you were doing?" Martha said, turning around to face Gwen and Rex. Gwen gave a little smile and nod, before bounding out the doors to go back to her daughter. Rex was sceptical.<br>"Who put you in charge?" He asked.  
>"Well do you want to stay here and be in charge?" Mickey butted in standing up for his wife. Rex didn't argue, he was out the door in a shot, going back to his day off.<br>"Well that's sorted. Does Jack know your here?" Martha asked, turning around to face the Doctor and, what she thought were, his companions.

"Yes he does!" Jack called walking through the doors Rex and Gwen had walked out only a few minutes ago. Jack bounded up the steps to join the group, he instantly went to stand next to Aria and put an arm around her waist. "What did I miss?" He asked.

An hour later the group were sitting in the conference teas in hand, coffee wasn't on the menu at Torchwood, not any more. They were chatting about the last few years. It had been eventful for both sides to say the least. "So how long are you sticking around then Doctor?" Martha asked, changing the topic of conversation. She had been shocked when the Doctor had explained that his `companions` were in fact his wife and daughter, and the latter seemed to be dating Jack. Well shocked is a bit of an understatement, but now it was old news and she put it down to `all in the day of Torchwood`.  
>"Well we need a week for the Tardis to refuel, she's been through a bit of a rush patch..." The Doctor began, no one noticed, apart from Amy, that Aria shifted uncomfortably when the Doctor brought it up. "... So she'll need a bit longer than usual." The Doctor finished. Amy dropped gently grabbed Aria's hand and started to rub circles with her thumb reassuringly.<br>"Okay, a week. What's the worst that could happen?" Mickey joked. Everyone laughed, but on ones smile reached their eyes. With the Doctor around, the worst could quite possibly happen.

* * *

><p><strong>Review are much appreciated! Honestly they give me a reason and a push to continue writing this! :) x<strong>


	7. Patients is a Virtue

**Thanks for the reviews! :) Here's another chapter for you! :) x**

* * *

><p>It was the next morning. Amy was driving whilst the Doctor was sat fidgeting in the passenger seat. The couple had decided to visit Craig in Colchester for a day or 2. After much pleading, Aria was staying at Torchwood with Jack whilst her parents made the journey. She was under strict instruction to "stay out of trouble", which was a challenge in itself especially with the Doctor's genes.<p>

The drive from Cardiff to Colchester was a long one and the Doctor wasn't known for his patients.  
>"I'm bored!" The Doctor exclaimed. He was currently slouching in the passenger seat, his seat belt straining as he sat at the awkward angle and a firm pout set of his face.<br>"Well tough, it'll still be a couple of hours until we get there and, unlike some people, I plan on keeping to the speed limits." Amy retorted. The Doctor, in Amy's opinion, had been acting like a bored toddler as soon as they stepped into the car. He had asked if they were there yet only a dozen times and the word bored kept being repeated out of his mouth.

"...boring... take forever..." was all Amy heard of the Doctor's mutterings. Keeping her eyes on the road, she leant over and gave him a whack on the arm.  
>"Patients is a virtue and do I need to remind you of Vegas 6?" She said sternly.<p>

_Vegas 6 was one of the many planets the Doctor and Amy had visited whilst searching for the girls. The planet was very similar to Earth and its main mode of transport, a digglehopper, was identical to an Earth car. The Doctor had opted to drive after they had escaped the clutches of an envious shopkeeper, whom the Doctor may have angered in a previous visit. All they had to do was drive down a few streets to get back to the Earth Embassy where the Tardis was parked. _

_The couple did make it back to the Embassy, the car... not so much._

Amy's threat had quietened the Doctor in silence. Amy turned her attention back to the road, whilst the Doctor fiddled with one of the many objects he had fished out of his pockets. In this case it was a small green military soldier; it reminded Amy of her favourite Pixar movie Toy Story.

An hour later Amy glanced back over at the Doctor. He was fast asleep, small soldier resting on his chest. Amy smiled softly. It was a rarity that she saw her husband sleep; he slept less often than she did. He told everyone that the little sleep was a Timelord thing, in truth it was a Doctor thing.

Still asleep, the Doctor lifted his hand to his mouth and started to suck on his thumb. Amy knew it as a tell-tale sign that he was having a nightmare. The Tardis had told her, well showed her, that the Doctor did it to stop himself from screaming and shouting as he slept, which would lead to the waking of his companions. Amy's hearts had broke when she had been told. She couldn't even begin to imagine what horrors the Doctor's subconscious could create, especially with 900 odd years to work off. She had tried one evening to have a peek at one of his nightmares, hoping that her presence in his mind will soothe him and, hopefully, calm him down. Unfortunately, as soon as she had placed her fingers on his temples, she had hit a brick wall. The Doctor wasn't letting anyone in, not letting anyone help, all because he didn't want anyone else to feel his pain. Silly old man.

Hence Amy had been left to cradle him as he slept, running her fingers through his hair and placing kisses on his forehead. Miraculously, on some occasions, this had worked.

Now though Amy was driving. She had just turned onto the A12 and they were only an hour or so away. She couldn't stop now, they were so close. So instead she removed one hand from the steering wheel and held onto the Doctor's free hand, whilst his other was lodged in his mouth. Amy then started to rub circles with her thumb on his hand, hoping that it would soothe him into a calm, peaceful sleep.

Exactly 58 minutes and 34 seconds later, Amy pulled off the A12 and into Colchester. The Doctor had woken half an hour ago, not ready to talk about what he had seen, but happy that Amy had cared. He was now though trying to direct Amy through the busy Essex town. It was eventful to say the least.

"Left!" The Doctor bellowed, pointing at the non-existent turning.

"Left? You can't turn left!" Amy responded just as loud.  
>"Well... ummm. Wait it might have been a left before the right, then around the corner?" The Doctor said to himself, trying to draw a map in the air with his fingers. Amy rolled her eyes.<br>"You've got no clue where we are, do you?" Amy sighed.  
>"Ah... no." The Doctor replied, looking a little deflated.<br>"Right."

Amy then proceeded to pull over. She then turned to the Doctor and held out her hand. "Screwdriver please." She asked. The Doctor's face screwed up in confusion but he still, reluctantly, gave it to her.  
>"Why?" He queried.<br>"Because... the spaceship that use to hold residence on top of Craig's house would have left a rather large energy signature, which then can be tracked with this." Amy explained, fiddling with the settings on the screwdriver. "And you're meant to be the clever one!" She joked. "Now pass me your shoe lace." She finished, her eyes still focused on the screwdriver in her hand and her other hand outstretched. The Doctor sighed and started to unlace his boot.

"I recall this use to be the other way round." The Doctor joked, handing the shoelace to Amy. Amy laughed as she tied the lace to the screwdriver and in turn the rear view mirror.  
>"I did..." Amy began. "...but then you married me." She finished with a smile.<br>"Hmm... I may remember doing something like that." The Doctor replied. "Weren't you the one wearing white?" He joked. Amy rolled her eyes.  
>"Ha ha!" She said and then proceeded to kiss her husband. They both smiled into the kiss.<p>

The screwdriver now hung off the rear view mirror, flashing and spinning in the direction they needed to go, acting as a giant compass.

10 minutes later Amy pulled up outside Craig's house.

* * *

><p><strong>The next chapter will be from Aria's point of view at Torchwood, i'll get around to writing it... eventually! :) Reviews are much appreciated! :) x<strong>


	8. Another Reason to Love You Even More

**Sorry for the wait, schools a bitch! :/ Anyhoo, a brand new chapter which is incredibly fluffy and romantic as well as complete kick arse! Woo! :) Hope you like! :) X**

* * *

><p>Aria waved as her parents drove away from the bay, Jack was standing at her side, arm wrapped around her waist. "So... Doctor's daughter, that's one thing you forgot to mention when we met?" Jack said. Aria raised her eyebrows.<br>"You also forgot to mention that you're now a fixed point, but that's not bothering me." Aria retorted. Jack held his hands up in surrender. "Fair play." He said and started to guide her across the bay. "Did we just have a domestic?" He asked a sly grin on his face. Aria pulled his arm tight around her.  
>"I think we did." She replied and kissed his cheek. "Where are we going anyway? I swear the hub entrance is back that way." Aria asked, gesturing to the direction they just walked from.<br>"Yep and I'm going to take my girlfriend out for a drink." Jack said smoothly, having no problem calling Aria the g-word.  
>"Girlfriend?" Aria questioned, rolling the word over her tongue. "Am I your girlfriend then Jack?" She asked, her eyebrows raised.<br>"Well I suppose, if that's what you want?" Jack asked, slightly unsure. Aria didn't reply but stopped in the middle of the pathway and pulled Jack into a snog. They slowly broke apart, both slightly breathless.  
>"Does that answer your question?" She asked. Jack nodded slowly, kissing Aria again on the forehead. They then continued to walk hand in hand down the Cardiff high street.<p>

Jack eventually stopped at a small Italian cafe and held the door open for Aria to walk in. "Ah, Jack, so good to see you!" A thick Italian accent called from behind the counter.  
>"Gino, Ciao. How's it going?" Jack replied, holding Aria's hand and leading her over to the counter. Gino was a rather large man and to any other person resembled someone out of the Godfather. He was tall, fairly large, with sleeked back hair and a permanent smile on his face.<br>"Va bene, you know how it is. But who is this bella signora?" Gino replied, causing Aria to blush.  
>"This is the girl I told you about." Jack said with an easy smile.<br>"No, the one you lost?" Gino asked, starting to prepare Jack's usually beverage.  
>"Yeah." Jack said, squeezing Aria's hand.<br>"Ahh... magnifico. And what would bella like to drink?" Gino asked, turning his attention to Aria.  
>"Cup of tea please." Aria mumbled quietly, not use to this kind of attention.<br>"Si, molto bene." Gino replied and set to work preparing the drink. Jack then lead Aria away to a near by table.

Aria sat down and Jack sat opposite her. "See, I'm not the only one who thinks you're beautiful." Jack said softly, causing Aria to blush. Jack chuckled at Aria's colour change. "Something's been bugging me though, if you know I'm a fixed point, how come it doesn't annoy you like it does your Dad?" Jack asked.  
>"It doesn't annoy as such. It's like my instincts are telling me Jack that well... that you're wrong and I should run, run and not look back." Aria explained. Jack deflated a little.<br>"So what's stopping you?" Jack asked glumly.  
>"I love you, you idiot. That's what's stopping me." Aria said. Jack smiled.<p>

Gino brought over their drinks and Aria and Jack spent the next few hours talking. They talked about anything and everything. Aria learnt a lot about Jack's time on Earth and was upset by how long Jack had spent here after being abandoned by her father. Jack had explained he was over it, but Aria wasn't convinced. He had then told her about Torchwood and she was enthralled. She then told him about her `different` upbringing and he eventually reuniting with her parents. All in all they laid their souls bare to one another. Any passers by or fellow cafe sitters couldn't deny that they looked made for each other. It was early evening now and their talking was cut short though with a call from the hub.

"Weevil alert." Jack stated as he hung up his phone.  
>"Oh..." Aria said, she couldn't deny she was slightly disheartened that their `date` was cut short. "Can I come?" She asked. Jack looked at her sceptically. Aria pouted.<br>"Fine, fine. Can you handle a gun?" He asked. Aria gave him a look.  
>"Weren't you listening to anything I said?" Aria asked. Jack relented and chucked her a spare gun he had in his coat.<br>"Lock and load!" He said. Then he grabbed her hand and they both ran out the cafe. "Put it on the tab, Gino." Jack shouted over his shoulder, before the couple disappeared into the night.

Jack had been cornered.

He had been trying to show off in front of Aria with his `amazing` weevil hunting skills, but when he had had his back turned one of the weevils had pounced on his back, knocking him to the ground and into the corner of the small alleyway. He closed his eyes and waited for the pain and inevitable death to come.

He was surprised to hear 3 gunshots go off and the falling of 3 weevil sized bodies fall to the floor. Opening his eyes he watched as Aria placed the gun back in her jacket pocket and came over to help him to his feet. He had to admit he was a little awestruck.

Once up on his feet he gave a quick glance to the weevil corpses littered on the floor and was shocked to see 2 bulls eye shots through the back of the skull and out through the middle of the eyes. Looking back at Aria his admiration for the teenager increased tenfold. "You've just given me another reason to love you even more." Jack said and proceeded to kiss Aria.

30 minutes later, the weevil bodies had been disposed of and Aria and Jack were sitting comfortably in the hub. "So what's the average day at Torchwood like?" Aria asked, snuggled up against chest as they lounged on the sofa.  
>"Well it depends on the day. Torchwood comes in 4 rating system. Quiet, Minor kaboom, Cardiff kaboom and worldwide kaboom." Jack said his mind lingering on the previous worldwide disasters.<br>"Kaboom?" Aria asked, questioning his word choice. Jack nodded.  
>"Kaboom. Or Kablooey as Gwen's daughter has taken to saying." He said a glint in his eye and smile of his face as he remembered the 2 year old yelling Kablooey at the top of her lungs and then squealing with laughter.<br>"Okay, kaboom and as to which one, hmm... well work your way up." Aria began. "Start at an average quiet day, up to your most recent worldwide disaster." Aria finished softly, feeling incredibly comfortable lying on Jack.  
>"Well, okay. A quiet day at Torchwood..." Jack began and told Aria of all the antics Torchwood got up to, comparing them to the scale. They spoke for hours, well into the early hours of the morning.<p>

At about 3am Jack noticed Aria had gone strangely quiet. He looked down to his chest to make sure that she was still there. She was. He then noticed how evenly her breathing was. She had fallen asleep. Holding her close, Jack kissed her hair and closed his eyes, hoping to get some sleep himself before the other turned up for work in a few hours time. All in all Jack dubbed the day as his most interesting first date with a girl.

* * *

><p><strong>The Italian should be accurate, if not blame Google Translator! ;) I'm currently half way through the next chapter which should be up tomoro some time! :) Reviews are much appreciated! :) X <strong>


	9. Closing Time Part I

**2 updates in 1 weekend! ;) But alas no reviews as of yet! :( Anyhoo, hope you like! :) x**

* * *

><p>"No I can't cope, honestly." Craig Owens said down the phone to his mother. His 1 and a half year old son, Alfie, was sitting in his high chair, a set of toys keys in his mouth. "I mean, I don't even know what to do with him?" Craig said desperately. "No it's not just you. I'm calling everyone. I'm texting the bleeding world. Craig Owens can't do it on his own! No one is coming to help me!" Craig continued, but his rant was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Mum, I'm gonna 'ave to call you back. There's someone at the door... yeah love you too. Bye." He said and hung up. He put the phone back on its dock and slowly made his way down the hall to the door.<p>

"Soph, honest..." Craig began as he opened the door, but was cut short by the people who were standing there, neither of them were his wife and he was surprised to see them even on planet Earth.

"Doctor?" Craig said in surprise.  
>"Craig, 'ello." The Doctor replied with a grin.<br>"Amy... but how? Why?" Craig asked, gawping slightly.  
>"Or hello as people used to say." The Doctor said, hugging Craig and kissing him on both cheeks as he had done when they had first met.<br>"Right, yes, hello Doctor, Amy. Nice to see you again. But what are you doing here?" Craig asked, as he allowed the Doctor and Amy to enter the house.  
>"Have you decorated?" The Doctor asked, ignoring Craig's question.<br>"Yeah we had to..." Craig began, mumbling the end of the sentence.  
>"I don't like it." The Doctor stated earning himself a whack round the head from Amy. The Doctor gritted his teeth as Amy's hand made contact with his head. "Met the wife?" He joked, rubbing the back of his, now sore, head.<br>"Wife? When did this happen?" Craig asked and once again the Doctor ignored the question. The lights in the hall flickered, only the Doctor seemed to notice them.  
>"Craig are you here alone?" The Doctor asked, seeming to sniff the air.<br>"Well yeah, except..." Craig answered but the Doctor cut him off.  
>"Something's very wrong then." The Doctor said, running around the house when he came to a stop in the kitchen. "Oh..." He said, now face to face with a bright eyed, smiling Alfie.<p>

"So when you said you were on your own?" Amy pondered.  
>"Yes, on my own with the baby." Craig said. "Cos no-one thinks I can cope on my own. Which is so unfair. Because...I can't cope on my own with him! I can't. He just cries. All the time. I mean, do they have off-switches?" Craig said, tending to, the now crying, Alfie.<br>"Oh come on, you can't be that bad." Amy said taking Alfie off of Craig and bouncing him on her hip, this quietened him instantly. "He doesn't have a mature bone in his body and he made an amazing Dad." Amy continued gesturing to the Doctor.  
>"Dad?" Craig asked, eyebrows raised. The Doctor shrugged.<br>"Long story." And the Doctor left it at that. He instead picked up the paper off the table and began to read it.

Craig turned around to see Alife quite content and quiet in Amy's arms. "How are you doing that?" He asked curiously, as soon as he tried to pick up his son, unless he was asleep, he'd usually start crying.  
>"What this?" Amy said, gesturing to the relaxed boy in his arms. Craig nodded. "Erm... well I dunno. It just feels right y'know. I guess after having 2 of your own everything becomes instinctive." Amy said the last part to herself more than Craig.<br>"2? How long has it been for you two?" Craig asked.  
>"A while. No, are girls are all grown up now." Amy sighed.<p>

Alfie mean while had made himself quite comfortable on Amy's hips and was currently playing with Amy's hair. He was babbling as he was doing so and was just about to put a bit in his mouth before th Doctor interrupted him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, it doesn't taste as good as it smells, believe me I've mistaken that before." The Doctor said.  
>"Who are you talking to?" Craig asked.<br>"Your son Alfie, although he does prefer Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All." The Doctor said, staring intently at Alfie. "He was saying, that almost-mummy's hair smelt good and he wanted to further investigate by putting it in his mouth." The Doctor said.  
>"Okay... how are you understanding him? " Craig asked.<br>"I speak baby." The Doctor said quite casually, as if it were a common thing.  
>"Of course you do." Craig replied.<br>"Wait, Doctor why am I almost-Mum?" Amy asked.  
>"Well because you almost are. He can smell it, all those hormones and smells, he knows you're a Mum, but not his Mum. Most children of his age know that." The Doctor explained.<br>"Okay, so what does he call you?" Amy asked.  
>"Not-Mum and unfortunately he call you that too Craig and everyone else... ah, peasants. I think I'll leave that conversation there." The Doctor said. "Anyway back to this newspaper?" The Doctor said.<br>"We were never talking about the newspaper?" Craig said.  
>"Well we are now." The Doctor said, laying it out on the table to reveal a large poster of 3 missing people.<p>

The Doctor walked down the aisle of the shop, Amy behind him and Craig a little way back with Alfie in the pram. "So why are we at a shop?" Craig called. The Doctor was currently sonicing the surrounding area and checking the readings on the screwdriver.  
>"Well, it's a funny thing these power fluctuations they seemed to coincide with the disappearances." The Doctor said. Craig gave him a confused look. Amy rolled her eyes and took it upon herself to explain her husbands rambling.<br>"They all disappeared within the shop Craig. He's trying to see if there are any potent energy signatures in the area." Amy explained.  
>"Oh, that makes sense." Craig nodded, pushing the pram next to Amy.<p>

The Doctor came to a sudden stop at the end of the aisle and spun around, as he faced the direction of the lifts the sound that the screwdriver emitted increased causing Alfie to whine in discomfort. "Ah-hah. I think we've found our source." The Doctor said, pocketing the screwdriver and running over to the lift. Amy and Craig followed.  
>"It's out of order." Craig said, pointing to the crudely A4 sign taped to the door, as he came up behind the pair. Amy did the Doctor the courtesy of ripping it off.<br>"No any more." She said with a grin and stepped into the lift after her husband. Craig lingered a little on in the shop. "I think I'll wait up here with Alfie." Craig admitted.  
>"Ah, yes. Probably a good idea." The Doctor said, smiling at Alfie's babbling. "Might want to change his nappy." He continued, with a small wave reached over and pressed one of the buttons on the panel next to the door. "Going down." He said with a grin and the doors slid closed.<p>

When the doors opened again, they certainly weren't in the shop anymore. To their luck it was empty. "Okay, certainly not in the shop anymore. " The Doctor said admiring their new surroundings.  
>"No, where are we?" Amy asked.<br>"Not sure, most of this technology you'd find on most starships of this type." The Doctor answered inspecting one of the panels on the wall.  
>"Doctor."<br>"Could be anything really..."  
>"Doctor."<br>"...question is what are they doing in Essex?" The Doctor continued, oblivious of his name being called.  
>"DOCTOR!" He turned around to see Amy backed up against the wall, a Cyberman's hand around her neck.<br>"Ah..."

* * *

><p><strong>There's not much original script in this, I thought the episode may be too confusing with Amy in it aswell, so I've reworked it a bit. Review people, please...! :) X<strong>


	10. A Patchwork of Deep Reds and Dark Pinks

**I'm am soooooo sorry for the long wait. I have had major writers block concerning this story, but my muse has returned! I have figured out a storyline, woop! Anyhoo... there is a warning on this for the fact it is fluffy. I love fluff, it's fluffy! :) Hope you like! x**

* * *

><p>Aria settled in well to the Torchwood way of life, although it wasn't surprising especially with the Doctor as her father. She helped everyone, doing anything. Her advanced knowledge of electronics and basic machinery allowed her in helping Mickey improve the hub system tenfold. Although basic, her knowledge of medicine and several species anatomy allowed her to help Martha in several autopsies and sort out some of the previous medical records, giving names to previously unknown specimens. Due to Jack's somewhat over protective nature, she didn't get to help Rex that much as his speciality was weaponry and the out in the field work. She could easily disassemble and reassemble her own choice of weaponry, a 52nd century laser blaster, but 21st century guns she was clueless and Jack had rather not risked it, much to her displeasure. Then finally there was Gwen. At first Aria thought Gwen was jealous of her, but those worries were quickly abashed when Gwen asked for help in the archives where they got along swimmingly.<p>

All in all Jack couldn't have hoped for anything better. His girlfriend and friends/ work colleagues were getting along and working together. It went as to far to say that Mickey said that he "better not mess it up", and that was something Jack was hoping to stick too.

That hope was torn to tatters by the end of the week.

Rex was called to a small house in the outskirts of the city. Apparently the owners had caught an alien that needed to be brought in; Rex would've done anything to get out of the hub and away from Jack and Aria's shameless flirting. At first it was cute, but now it seemed that they seemed to rub it in his face that he had no romance in his life. He had once. He'd never admit it to anyone but he did have a thing for Esther, she was smart, cute and was someone who would able to understand the messed up job that was Torchwood. But she was gone, just like he should have been. But he's not and he'll never be gone again. Just like Jack, he'll keep coming back.

Rex pulled up to the small house; he was in the new SUV. It was, apparently, just as conspicuous as the last but with more gadgets. All paid for courtesy of the newly elected British Government, who felt guilty over the acts of the previous government's actions in blowing up the Torchwood base. It was fair to say they had bought the most expensive SUV possible and loaded it with state of the art tech, just to burn a hole in the pocket of the government. Jack had almost pissed himself when they had told him that there was no limit.

Rex got out of the SUV, slammed the door and locked them. Checking for his gun, it was still safely hidden in his pocket, and pulling out his Torchwood ID, he walked up to the door. He gave the door bell and quick ring and in almost an instant the door opened to reveal a woman in her mid-thirties and man not much older standing down the hallway. "Torchwood." He said holding up the ID. "You called?"

Rex had been welcomed into the house quite warmly; it was a first for Rex, when at the CIA he rarely got a warm welcome when entering someone's home. "Tea?" The woman, Tam, offered. Rex politely declined. "Well you better come look at it then." Tam continued and led Rex to the garage.

Tam opened the slightly worn down door and flicked on the light. The garage was a mess, but in the corner in what looked like a dog's cage was the alien. Rex shivered at the sight of it, it was a rather large interpretation of a rat, but a few of its features were off. Its fur was longer and lighter than a rat's, its colour looking a lot like a tabby cat's fur rather than a rat's. "John, my husband, found it down the back of the garden. It was all caught up in the kid's football goal; he caught it and called the police, who forwarded us to you." Tam explained the banging of feet above and the giggling of children proved to Rex that she was telling the truth.  
>"No worries, I can sedate him and put him in the back of my SUV. He'll be out of your hands then." Rex explained and Tam nodded.<br>"Brilliant, it's been freaking the kids out. We just want it out of the house."  
>"No worries...I better get started then." Rex said and got to work preparing a tranquiliser. Tam nodded, the chorused shouting of "MUM" from the main house caused her to leave Rex on his own.<p>

Within 10 minutes the giant rat was securely in the back of the SUV and Rex was bidding goodbye to Tam and John. "Thanks for the help." Tam said happily. John gave Rex a handshake.  
>"Got more guts than me mate. Who'd have thought giant bloody rats in Cardiff?" John said. Rex nodded, holding himself back from laughing from the irony of the statement. Rex then climbed into the driving seat of the SUV and headed back to the Hub.<p>

Rex parked the SUV in its usual spot and preceded the lift the large container holding the rat-thing into the hub. "What is that?" Gwen squealed in horror as Rex carried it through the hub and towards the cells.  
>"The so-called small creature that was picked up by the Hammersmith's on the outskirts of the city." Rex replied, struggling a little with the weight of the container. Aria could see his struggle and went over to help him.<br>"Here let me take this." She said and lifted the container with ease in one arm. Rex's eyebrows rose. "It's a Vegas 6 street rat. They're like your common Earth sewer rat, except bigger and a different colour. They're pests to be frank." Aria explained eyeing the creature inside the container. She was halfway down the corridor now, just outside the cells; Rex was trailing her getting ready to open the cell doors.  
>"So it really is an over-grown rat?" Rex asked.<br>"Yep, might as well kill it to be honest but Jack will probably have my head so just keep it in there. It'll die by itself eventually without the other member's of its nest." Aria said and placed the container on the floor of the cell. She then walked out and Rex closed the door of the cell behind her, trapping the rat-thing.

Very little else happened for the rest of the day. Rex had to fill in the corresponding paper work to go with the rat and Aria kept herself entertained on an item which had fallen through the rift a few days previous, a Gallifraen Child's Nightlight.

She was currently sitting in Jack's office, the lights out, watching how different pictures, created from her mind, danced across the walls and ceilings. Right now it showed her interpretation of Gallifray from the stories her Mum and Dad told her when she was very little. It was a little blurry and some points of detail were inaccurate but Aria thought it looked breathtaking nonetheless.

The distinctive red grass was like a patchwork of deep reds and dark pinks around a large glass dome, at its highest lay a small building, then inside was the metropolis that was the citadel. There were tall, spiralling towers that stopped mere millimetres from the dome's edge and reflected the light of the twin suns to give the entire Citadel an angelic glow. Then in the wind you could here the laughter of young children running and playing in the fields, all of them younger than 8, all of then innocent and naive of the troubled futures that would behold them when they became Timelords or ladies. All in all, it looked perfect.

"Wow." A voice said from behind Aria. Aria wasn't shocked, she had been trained to expect surprise and honestly, even though Jack had entered silently, she had still heard him come in.  
>"If you wanted to scare me you're going to have to do much better." She chuckled, turning to face Jack. Jack laughed softly.<br>"You found out what that thing does then?" Jack asked, pointing to the night light on the table.  
>"Yeah, it's a Gallifraen Night Light. It seeks out any Timelord it can and connects to its mind. It then allows them to project any image they want." Aria explained. She then shuffled up. "Come and have a look." She continued patting the seat next to her.<p>

Jack obliged and sat next to her, putting his arm around her waist. "What do you want to see?" Aria asked. Jack smiled and leant over and whispered something in Aria's ear. Aria gasped in shock. "No, something clean, thank you very much." She replied, her face slightly crimson. Jack laughed and Aria felt his chest vibrate next to her, she couldn't help but laugh as well.  
>"Okay, what about the first place you visited in the Tardis?" Jack requested. Aria nodded, trying to recall her first visit. This was the earliest she could recall.<p>

On the ceiling the image of a water feature appeared, it was slightly obscured by pieces of hair, but they were so big and close to the camera they looked more like shadows than hair. The fountain was surrounded by a village green and around the green were several small shops, including a post office.

"Where is that?" Jack asked softly, his eyed still glued to the ceiling.  
>"Leadworth, it's a little English village and that's in about 8 years from now." Aria explained. Jack nodded and pulled Aria closer to him, she was practically lying on top of him now, both of them looking up at the ceiling.<p>

A flash of ginger hair flicked through the corner of the image, but the main attention was on a man and woman who were talking to someone below the image. The man had sandy brown hair, a rather large nose and a look in his eyes showing anyone and everyone that he would do anything for the woman. The woman had dark brown hair, bright green eyes and a surprised, yet overjoyed smile on her face. The woman's mouth than started to move but no words came out.

"Why can't we hear what's she's saying?" Jack asked.  
>"Because I can't remember what she said." Aria replied with a giggle. Jack rolled his eyes and kissed her head.<p>

The image of the people slowly started to blur, until they came nothing but smudges of colour. The colours then dramatically changed as if the image was being moved to look at something else, but before it could refocus the image went black.

"What happened?" Jack asked looking down at Aria on his chest.  
>"I fell asleep. I was only a few months old at this point in my defence." Aria admitted. Jack tightened his arms around Aria's waist.<br>"Hmmm... who were those people then? Did you ever find out?"  
>"Well the woman turned out to be an older version of my sister at the time and currently for me she's probably doing this about now and the man was her boyfriend, Rory Williams."<br>"He might be related to Rhys." Jack realised raising his eyebrows.  
>"Hmm... maybe, I'll have to ask Gwen," Aria yawned. "...in the morning." She finished. Jack smiled at the sound of her yawn. He tilted her head up and gave her a kiss on the lips.<br>"Get some sleep; I'll be here when you wake up." Jack promised. Aria nodded and snuggled into his chest. She was asleep within minutes, Jack wasn't far behind.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for all the reviews and story alerts and favourites, etc. so far. They really mean a lot to me! :) Even more reviews will certainly make my day though. ;) Hope you liked! :) x<strong>


	11. Closing Time Part II

**Another chapter! Woo... thanks for the review(s), I'm glad you like it. On with the show! :) x**

* * *

><p>The Cybermen turned to face the Doctor; it's vice grip still on Amy's neck. "Ah, okay. No need to panic." The Doctor said, clearly panicking.<br>"Doctor, calm down." Amy stated her hands trying to claw the Cyberman away.  
>"Okay, need an idea. Think..." The Doctor continued to himself running his fingers through his hair. "Oi, junk heap." The Doctor yelled and the Cyberman turned to face him. "Let go of my wife!" The Cyberman didn't complied surprisingly.<p>

"Wow, I didn't think that would actually work..." The Doctor said pleased with himself. His smile dropped when the Cyberman turned and faced him. "Ah, not so good."  
>"You will be deleted. The Doctor will be deleted." The Cyberman chanted and began to walk towards the Doctor, whose brain was now working over time.<p>

The Doctor, still backing away from the closing Cyberman, scanned to room. With a slightly crazy smile he noticed the glowing red switches behind Amy. He would have laughed at the Cybermen's idiocy if he wasn't about to be killed by one. "Amy, the switches behind you, turn them all on." He said, he was only a few steps from the wall now and needed her to hurry.  
>"Which ones?" Amy yelled her voice still rough from the Cyberman.<br>"All of them." The Doctor replied, his back now against the wall. Amy got to work as the Cyberman made a grab for the Doctor. The Doctor ducked and clipped a wire onto the Cyberman's arms. He then dodged around the back and clipped one to its back.  
>"Done." Amy yelled and the Doctor grabbed her hand, running back to the teleport. Standing on the blue circle, the pair teleported in a haze of blue light.<p>

The Doctor and Amy landed with a thud in the elevator, both panting from breath, slumped on the floor. Before either could talk the elevator doors rolled open to reveal Craig standing there with Baby Alfie. "You're back!" Craig said shocked.  
>"Yeah... big... bad... big bad... Cybermen...gone." The Doctor said between pants. He then took a deep breath and shakily got to his feet. After he was stable he offered Amy's his hand and pulled her up to her feet as well. "You shouldn't get anymore problems from them." The Doctor explained and the group left the shopping centre.<p>

Amy and Doctor spent the evening with Craig and Alfie, the latter was totally entranced by the new company and his little fingers ended up being tangled in Amy's hair on more than one occasion. The trio, Alfie having gone to bed, were now sat on the sofa chatting. Amy and Craig with a glass of wine in their hands whilst the Doctor stuck to water, it was all very domestic. "So there I was covered in this god awful green gunk after climbing through the forest and he comes out not even a hair out of place. It was the second worst thing I have been covered in, ever." Amy said, retelling one of her and the Doctor's mishaps.  
>"What was the first? I mean green alien gunk, that's got to be pretty bad?" Craig asked slightly revolted and yet curious at what could be more revolting than alien gunk.<br>"Star-whale vomit." Amy replied and shivered. "My first ever trip with 'im and we end up in the mouth of a giant star-whale, no way out except to make the poor thing vomit!" She shivered again, as did Craig. The Doctor on the other hand chuckled at the memory. This was also the moment Alfie decided to wake up and like clockwork the crying started.

Craig sighed heavily and began to get up. "No, no. I'll do it." The Doctor insisted and was up the stairs before Craig could argue. Craig shrugged and sat back down, from the stories he had been told earlier Amy and the Doctor had only been parents recently, the Doctor would be fine. He turned to Amy who was staring behind him, a look of utter fear on her face. "Amy?" Craig asked softly and Amy's eyes quickly darted to him, tears forming in the corner. "Amy, what's wrong?" He asked.  
>"The Doctor... he's going to die." She replied.<p>

The man in question at this point was still at the top of the stairs. He had felt Amy's sadness and was going to ask when he finished with Alfie, but Craig had beaten him to it and after hearing's Amy's last sentence, he was intrigued to hear more.

Craig looked confused at Amy. "What do you mean?" He asked. Amy took a deep breath before replying. "It was a few years ago now, we were given these invitations, a time, a date and a map reference on them in a Tardis blue envelope. So without second thought we packed up and followed instruction." Amy took another breath, trying to calm her breathing down.

"The map reference led us to Utah, 22nd April 2011, 4:00pm. As per usual, he turns up in the middle of no-where, wearing a Stetson of all things." She smiled a little at the memory of him, leaning on the red car, hat precariously placed on his head.

"And River, a friend of ours, arrived and we went to a cafe. We talked for a bit, we hadn't seen him for a while, Rory and I had just gotten married by this point..." Amy had explained the whole Rory thing to Craig earlier so he nodded in understanding.

"...And then we went to beach for a picnic. It was nice. We had wine, chatted and just enjoyed being together with some universal threat to stop. But then at about 5 ish, I'm not sure, this... this astronaut thing comes out of the water and stops at the beach edge." Amy started to speak to really quickly as with every word she says to Craig is causing the memory to replay in her head and the Doctor would be down soon and it was important that he didn't find out, her crying would just give it away. Little did Amy know that he already was.

"The Doctor, he went really quiet and everyone stood up. He told us to stay back, but I wasn't really focused on him, more on the apparent Apollo astronaut that had appeared out of the lake. He walked forward and started to talk to it. The thing lifted its visor and the Doctor bowed his head and... and it shot him." Amy couldn't control her sobs anymore and Craig came and sat next her, allowing her to bury her head in his shoulder.  
>"But, he can do that thing can't he? Didn't he regenerate or whatever?" Craig asked. Amy shook her head, although muffled she managed to reply to Craig.<br>"It shot him again, while he was half-way through the cycle. His body was already dead; the regeneration gets it started again by changing it. The second shot, stopped the cycle. He died and we... we had to burn the body." Amy replied and tears flowed freely, this long repressed memory now at the forefront of her mind.

The Doctor was shocked at Amy's confession to Craig. He always knew his death was coming; it was inevitable, but like that... Why would he have chosen to go like that? He couldn't take hearing Amy's sobs anymore, each sniffle breaking his hearts, so he silently opened Alfie's door and steeped into the room. He was met with the sound of a babbling toddler.

"Hello." The Doctor said, his eyes were still glazed but his smile was genuine as he picked up the small boy. Alfie babbled in response.  
>"Hmm... it is quite pretty." The Doctor mused, looking up at the projection of constellations on the ceiling. "But do you know what it really wants to look like?" He asked and then whipped out his sonic screwdriver pointing it at the projector. The image instantly changed into the true look of the stars. Reds, blue, gold filled the ceiling and each of the little stars and galaxies were moving in their own unique way. "See, that's better." The Doctor said pocketing the sonic.<p>

"When you're older Alfie they'll be just starting to touch the stars. Oh you little humans get so far, all the way to the end of the universe and beyond. I've been their believe me. You've got so much ahead of you, whilst I apparently don't have much. I finally feel old; haven't felt that in a long time." The Doctor rambled, still looking at the projection above his head not noticing that Alfie had fallen back asleep on his shoulder.

"And then Amy, all these years of not telling me. I don't blame her, she had to, to maintain the timelines but... I just wish she could've told me." The Doctor said and looked down at Alfie, his features instantly softened. "Look at me, an old man rambling his issues to you." The Doctor continued, placing Alfie back in his cot. "Night little one." He said gently and left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

The Doctor leant back against the door and yawned. Without second thought he trudged his way down the corridor to the spare room Craig had said he and Amy could use. The Doctor didn't take in the room upon entry; his eyes were on the bed and with a flop he landed on it, face first. Eyes drifting shut, he managed to slip off his shoes, pull off his bow tie and shrug off his trousers and braces. Within seconds he was asleep, the first time in a long time he had fallen asleep without his wife in his arms.

* * *

><p><strong>I just realised this chapters quite depressing, sorry about that but I way checking thing through and I realised the Doctor never found out about his death in <em>The Almost People<em> like the Doctor in the real show, so I thought I add it in here. Hope it doesn't confuse things too much. Reviews would really make my day! :) x**


	12. Can Timelords Even Get Colds?

**This chapter's got a little bit of gore in it and is quite upsetting. Sorry about that. Also when mentioning the doctor, it means a the doctor who works at the hospital not the actual Doctor. On with the show then... x**

* * *

><p>The next morning began like every other morning at Torchwood of late. Martha, Mickey and Gwen would arrive 9am on the dot, Rex half an hour later, then Jack and Aria 10 minutes after Rex. The only difference about this morning to any other was the fact that Aria and Jack found themselves looking into a mysterious bug which seemed to have fallen over the family who found the `rat` the day before. They were currently walking around A&amp;E of Cardiff General looking at the mothers, Tabetha "Tam" Hammersmith, charts and it wasn't looking good.<p>

"We don't know what's wrong with them. There seems to be some sort of toxicant in their blood but it's latched to the red blood cells, we can't do anything for them and their conditions seem to be getting worse." The doctor explained, Jack nodded and looked over to Aria who was studying the chart, her eyes were moving impossibly fast across the page as she took in the information.  
>"We understand. Have all members of the family got it?" Jack asked, looking from the unconscious mother to the father, John Hammersmith, lying also unconscious in the bed next door.<br>"Yes unfortunately, it seems to have spread around the family and at an alarming rate. The 2 boys' conditions are looking worse than the parents." The doctor answered grimly.  
>"Poor kids." Jack commented. The doctor nodded.<br>"I've never seen anything like it; please do you have any idea? If it managed to spread amongst the family this quickly, how quickly will it spread through the hospital?" The doctor pleaded.

Aria looked up from the chart and gave the doctor a sorrowful look. "It's a virus called Epodermentella. It's passed by skin to skin contact and comes in 2 stages. The first stage, the 1st 24 hours after contracting the virus, you are perfectly normal. Very few scans would pick up on the fact that the virus was actually in your blood stream, but if caught it is very easily treated. Standard anti-biotic would do it. But in Stage 2, the stage the Hammersmiths find themselves in, it, as you said, attaches to the red blood cells and the body starts to shut down. Unfortunately, in stage 2 it's incurable, even in a time period when it's fully recognised." Aria explained shattering any hope the doctor had of curing his patients.  
>"So what can we do?" The doctor asked, he was still only a few years into his career and he had never come across a case such as this.<br>"Not much. Quarantine the Hammersmiths, make them comfortable for the inevitable and give a small dose of anti-biotic to anyone who has come into contact with them in the last 24 hours." Aria continued. The doctor nodded taking in the information.  
>"I'll get straight on it." The doctor said and left the ward.<p>

When the doctor had left, Aria turned to Jack. "You'll want to call the hub and tell them to have the injection. Rex would have passed it on when he caught the _rat_ yesterday." Aria said, spitting the word rat. A single vermin of one different planet could've caused a worldwide epidemic if it wasn't for them catching it early. Jack nodded, his mind still slightly shocked at the severity of the situation. He had heard of Epodermentella, it was history when he was growing up. The great plague of the 30th Century, the fact that it could have happened 900 years early due to this own carelessness...he needed to call the hub.

Jack went into the corridor to make the call, leaving Aria alone in the ward with the `sleeping` family. She knew they weren't sleeping, but it was better to think of it that way. She had learnt a long time ago to think like that. She looked at Tam and felt sorry for her. She was just an innocent bystander, dying because of a plague that shouldn't have come to Earth for another 900 years. She pulled a bit of the woman's hair out of her face. She looked so calm, so serene. You wouldn't have guessed that her body was battling for its life, a battle it would eventually lose.

Aria sighed at the sight. She knew she would have contracted the virus by now and for her there was no cure. With her higher body temperature she'd be at stage two within the hour, she couldn't tell Jack it'd only worry him, she would be fine... eventually.

"All done." The man in question said walking back into the ward and Aria pushed her doubts to the back of her mind. "Martha's doing it as we speak, they'll be set up for us when we get back." Jack continued, Aria didn't have the heart to tell him that she'll be, undoubtedly, unconscious by the time they made it back to the hub.  
>"Good, they should be fine if they get the anti-biotic as soon as." Aria said as Jack put his arm around her, she leant into him.<br>"Come on, there's not much we can do now. Let's head back to the hub." Jack said and started to lead Aria to the SUV, he didn't notice her complexion getting paler by the minute.

About half way back to the hub Aria started to cough. "Sounds like you've got a cold coming there. Can Timelords even get colds?" Jack asked one hand in Aria's the other on the steering wheel; she was wearing gloves at the moment. Jack had asked why but she hadn't responded. Aria opened her mouth to respond to Jack's question but the coughing started again causing a large pain to form in her chest.  
>"No..." she stammered, out of breath and wheezy from the coughing.<br>"No what?" Jack asked confused at her response, his eyes flickered from her to the road ahead.  
>"No, Time..." Aria didn't get to finish her sentence as the round of coughing began again, this time though she spluttered up blood. It dribbled down her lip and she wiped it on the back of her sleeve. "...don't get colds." She finished weakly, her hand dropping back to the seat. Her eyes then fluttered closed and she fell unconscious. Jack's mouth went dry at the sight of Aria. He should have known, he thought. Without second thought he floored the SUV and turned on the siren and lights, he had to get back to the hub.<p>

Scooping the unconscious Aria up, he ran down the stairs and corridors into the main hub. He could already begin to see the faint golden glow being emitted from her skin. "Jack, oh my god, what happened?" Martha asked running over to Jack and Aria. Jack quickly placed Aria on the couch and stopped Martha before she could touch her.  
>"She's caught the virus thing. I don't know how, but it must have reacted with her blood. But she's going to be fine though, we just need to step back." Jack explained, keeping a firm grip on Martha. "All of you!" Jack shouted, most directly at Rex who was edging towards Aria. The glow was now more prominent of Aria now.<br>"Jack what's happening to her?" Gwen asked in shock, still standing by her workstation. Her eyes were transfixed by the glowing Aria.  
>"Timelords, they have this thing when there dying their bodies change, they literally..." Jack began but didn't get to finish as Aria awoke with a gasp. She was still glowing though.<p>

Aria got to her feet, looking at the glowing on her arms. "Last time I did this I turned into a toddler; I was ten at the time." She joked still looking at her glowing hands and arms; her mind was running on auto-pilot at the minute. She then looked up at the others, all stood slightly away from her, looking slightly terrified. "I guess this is goodbye then." She said.  
>"What, you'll be fine though." Mickey asked, the only one able to voice his thoughts. Aria shook her head.<br>"Yeah, but I won't be me though. I'll be a different me, who knows I could be a child again. God I'd hate that, been a child twice before, not as fun as it's cracked up to be." She explained with a smirk, tears now rolling down her cheeks. "Jack, there's just something I wanted to say. I won't say it again, not like this anyway, and it's my last chance. So I..." But like so many times before Aria didn't get to finish her sentence. What was emitted from her mouth was a piecing scream as she threw her head back and the regeneration took hold, filling the hub with its golden light.

* * *

><p><strong>It was tricky trying to find an end point for this, but I think this is pretty good. The next chapter will be the last of Closing Time and the Doctor and Amy's journey back to Torchwood. Will exchange reviews for cookies... x<strong>


	13. Closing Time Part III

**Okay, this chapter's a bit short. Honestly I kind of lost my muse halfway through writing it. But meh... Hope you like it! :) x**

* * *

><p>The Doctor cracked his eyes opened and was met with the blurred image of his wife. As his eyes focused he realised that his wife wasn't asleep as he had expected her to be. She was in fact wide awake watching him. "Good morning." Amy said happily.<br>"Morning." The Doctor said softly, his voice still thick with sleep. Amy held the Doctor's hand, threading their fingers together.  
>"Sleep well?" She asked, her bright green eyes watching him.<br>"Hmm..." He replied smiling, his eyes still needing effort to remain open. Amy rolled her eyes and pushed him off the bed. The Doctor's arms flung up in panic as he landed with a thud on the floor next to the bed. "Owww..." He moaned lying on his back on the floor.

Amy laughed and leaned over to the bed, her head dangling above him and her hair almost tickling his chest. "It's not funny." The Doctor said with a pout. Amy stuck out her tongue in response and disappeared from the Doctor's view. The Doctor sat up. "Where have you..." The Doctor began but he saw the flicker of his wife's ginger hair run out the door. In an instant he was up on his feet and chasing after her.

Running out the bedroom door the Doctor continued through the green fields, patches of red grass brushing his legs as he chased his wife's retreating figures. "Wait..." The Doctor called as the gap between him and Amy increased. She turned her head to face him, but the expression her face wore stopped the Doctor dead. The expression Amelia Pond wore was one of pure hatred and what she said next only added to the Doctor's heartbreak. "Stay away from me!" Amy yelled and continued running.

The Doctor turned on the stop his mouth dry and his chest aching. Amy had rejected him and it hurt even more than listening to her explain his own death. "Why?" He muttered, his lip quivering. The lights around him suddenly dimmed and he was now standing face to face with Amy again. The Doctor whimpered at the sight of her. Her usual tamed ginger hair was knotted and sitting quite precariously on the top of her head. Her usual smooth pale skin was covered in a layer of grim, darkened and not quite fully formed bruised dotted all over her person and, then to top it all of, her eyes, which were usually so bright and avid with curiosity, were now dull and lifeless. She was a girl, nay woman, who had been defeated.

"Amy?" The Doctor croaked but Amy didn't look up. The Doctor lifted his hand, attempting to cup her cheek and wipe away some of the dirt that was stuck there, but as his hand reached her face it continued going. He waved his arm back and forth and each time it went straight through Amy. One of the times that he needed to hold his wife and he was nothing but a ghost. But ghosts still have hairs and the hairs on the back of the Doctor's neck stood on end as he heard a voice from behind him.

"Amelia dear, it seems you husband hasn't come to your rescue. What a shame." The voice said. The Doctor whizzed round and was met with the woman who made the Daleks look tame. Kovarian. She was sitting on some black throne; an army of Silence's standing close by. Her skin was as pale as ever, her purple lips prominent and pronounced and her menacing looking eye-patch gleamed in the small rooms light.

Amy didn't reply to Kovarian's taunts. "Nothing? Well you are so much like him, didn't utter a word as we killed him stone dead. He didn't even beg, shame really." Kovarian continued, Amy tensed in fear as Kovarian stood up and made her way to Amy. "Why don't you just concede? Your loyalty means nothing to a dead man. You could rule the universe at my side Amelia. Does that not tempt you? I will not ask again." Amy remained quiet. Kovarian waved her hand and walked away. Amy closed her eyes and a green light filled the room.

"NO!" The Doctor yelled and woke up with a jump. His breathing laboured and his hearts racing, he was deeply relieved that it was just a dream. He ran his fingers through his hair. This hadn't been the first time he had woken startled from a nightmare and he had no doubt that it wouldn't be his last. Controlling his ragged breath, he swung his legs out of bed and got himself dressed.

He found Amy and Craig in the living room, the latter bouncing a happy Alfie on his lap. "Mornin'." Craig said as the Doctor walked down the stairs. Amy smiled at her husband.  
>"Morning Sweetie." She said sounding so much like River; the Doctor could see where River got it from.<br>"Good Morning." The Doctor said with a very put on bravado and the morning conversation started from there.

Almost 2 hours later Amy and the Doctor were back in the car, heading back to Cardiff. With heartfelt goodbyes and the couples promise to visit soon, Amy and the Doctor had left Craig's happy. Now in the car the Doctor was being more tame than the journey to Essex, and had only asked "if they were there yet?" a handful of times. It was almost a pleasant car journey, almost.

"Doctor, would you ever consider having more kids?" Amy asked as they pulled onto the M25. This caught the Doctor off-guard.  
>"Well, ermm...I don't know. Why, is it something you would want?" The Doctor replied. Amy shrugged.<br>"I dunno, seeing Alfie all smiling and laughing. I guess I miss it. I love the girls, god I love them more than anything, but..."  
>"...you miss having them at that age." The Doctor concluded. Amy nodded in agreement, her eyes still on the road. "Amy, if it's something you want, I'm more than happy to have more children." The Doctor said grabbing a hold of Amy's hand. Amy smiled and squeezed the Doctor's hand.<br>"Yeah it would." Amy agreed and kissed the Doctor's hand.

The rest of the journey was in companionable silence. Yet when they arrived back at the Torchwood hub..."JACK HARKNESS, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY DAUGHTER?"

* * *

><p><strong>One more separate chapter from Torchwood point of view to go... Reviews would make my day, so please review! :) x<strong>


End file.
